1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle differential assembly driving a pair of driven shafts including gears thereon with which a differential gear is meshed and a friction brake assembly is provided for friction braking the driven shaft gears relative to each other responsive to rotation of the differential gear above a predetermined angular velocity.
2. Description of Related Art
Various different forms of automotive differential assemblies heretofore have been provided wherein structure is provided for limiting relative angular displacement of a pair of shafts driven from the differential assembly, or wherein the differential assembly drives a pair of shafts in a manner such that at least a major portion of the torque supplied to the differential assembly is transferred to the driven shaft having the greater resistance to rotation thereof.
However, most previously known forms of locking or limited slip differential assemblies heretofore provided utilize locking or torque transfer mechanisms which are reasonably complex, expensive to produce and require considerable maintenance. Accordingly, a need exists for an automotive differential assembly which will be capable of at least frictionally resisting excessive angular velocity of one driven shaft relative to a second driven shaft.